On Monday, June 13th, Clay Aiken made his way to Orlando, Florida. He talked with the press and, hopefully felt he was making a difference.
During the day, I posted some pictures and a link to a video. You will find that in …Orlando Part 1. I will add a bit more tonight.
There are some articles about Clay’s visit to Orlando. One of the most interesting is:
Vox Identities
Clay Aiken makes a chilling point about how Florida fails LGBTQ people
After a shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse killed 49 people in Orlando early Sunday morning, the state of Florida is in mourning — Gov. Rick Scott condemned the deaths as an “attack on all of us.” Florida declared a state of emergency.
But while there are likely to be plenty of public statements on behalf of survivors of the shooting, if the survivors identify as LBGTQ, they still live in a state that doesn’t guarantee them basic protections. Clay Aiken, the American Idol runner-up and former congressional candidate, put it well:
“A gay man who survived #orlando hate crime can STILL show up to work in FL tomorrow and have his boss fire him simply because he is gay.”
Aiken’s words actually echo something that happened 43 years ago, after what is now the second-worst massacre of LGBTQ people in US history, the Upstairs Lounge nightclub arson in New Orleans. Among the injured was a teacher who “was fired while in critical care … after his school learned that he had been at the bar,” Elizabeth Dias and Jim Downs wrote in Time magazine in 2013. The man later died. Other survivors refused to be publicly identified for fear of backlash.
A lot has changed since 1973. But most states, including Florida, still don’t ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, at work, or at school: (map can be seen at the link below)
Violence against LGBTQ people has spurred activism in the past, just as other violence against marginalized groups has fed protests. If the Pulse shooting has similar effects, nondiscrimination laws could be a good place to start.
http://www.vox.com/2…ndiscrimination
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CTV had an interview with Clay on Monday morning.
They put the conversation on YouTube.
It is an excellent discussion.
It’s been a very difficult and emotional 2 days for everyone…but even more so for Clay.
I hope we hear from him today.
Clay speaks and the public listens! Hopefully, Florida gets its act together and passes the Discrimination Bill ASAP!
Thank you for the video. My prayers go out to everyone. We need to loved ourselves and love others.. Do not learn to hate for any reason.
Thank you CANN for keeping us up to date on Clay's interviews in FL. Many news stations look to Clay for comments on current situations because he has clear and intelligent view on why hateful things like this happen.
What has happened to "Liberty and Justice for all"? I am deeply disturbed by the level of unadulterated hatred too often displayed in our society. My prayers go out to the many men and women whose loved ones have been victims of this horrendous tragedy, and may we learn once again that ours is NOT to judge.
Am I the only one who thinks of this tragedy as more of an Islamic radical attack on Americans, simply that is what his religion teaches. In their own countries, people who are gay are beheaded on a whim. I have read many times that their "duty" is to kill those who do not believe. Feel terrible for all those involved, but this is not just one crazy guy who hates gays. It's his basic beliefs that are the cause of this. Would be happier if people would focus on outing all the Islamic militants and at least reduce the problem!!